 This was never going to be an overnight haul this was not going to be something that you get a new coaching staff in here You get a new front office in here and everything magically changes. You get here. You're new on the job There's a lot of things that going on and you know some of the obstacles that You're trying to work through as you all know We went into last year with the most dead money in the history of NFL $86 million in dead money because the salary cap constraints were so significant You knew that it was going to take a couple of years to even begin to see What Terry font know and Arthur Smith want to build in Atlanta. We have an open-check book the first time We've got more money than we've ever had we do have a lot of cap space and we're excited You know about our plan going in the free agency You get a chance to build the team that you envision patients from the organization the patients from the owner of the patients from the fans Because of that discipline we're able to put ourselves in a little bit better position right now Make a splash in free agency first absolutely. We have to go out and find Good tough competitive football players now. I think it's time for some difference makers Go get a Jesse base go get a guy that can help our football team win, but more importantly Mike We are news we are moving the needle. We haven't done that You now have north of what 65 million how much of a big spender will you be we had a plan from the very beginning And we knew this is gonna be an offseason where we could add some players and yet we still have to have discipline You're always building you want to build a championship roster Not just for one year, but for several years And so you have to stay have some balance have some discipline and make sure you're getting players at the right value Because you're putting together a puzzle. You're not trying to add a few players It's we have a whole team that that we have to put together And so you want to make sure that you're doing the right things and staying within parameters at every spot On day one of NFL free agency. There have been now four Moves, okay that have happened that are being reported that the Falcons are going to make official on Wednesday John who Smith they make a trade for him tight in from New England. This is probably the most exciting Moment of my NFL career 11 touchdowns in his last two seasons in Nashville Nice touchdown field You're not familiar he played for Arthur Smith when he's with the Titans when I figured that this thing would be real and me Me and art would be getting back together, you know, my my my energy just went through the roof It's poetic. Honestly, it is every time I step on that field You're gonna get every ounce of me every passion put the ball in my hands anywhere on the field and I'm just gonna make plays. It's however teams Mike Arifullo are more than capable right now Negotiating with their own Guys including an offensive lineman in Atlanta that was set to play on the fifth year option But Chris Lindstrom just made himself a lot more He grades out as one of the best players in the National Football League is his position The brightest group on a team is the offensive line and to keep one of the guys It's now burgeoning one of the leaders on that team when you start talking about what Chris Lindstrom has been able to do I think he's garnered a lot of respect around the league We do want to prioritize two things we want to prioritize our players and prioritize the front He is now here in the prime of his career Five-year deal a hundred five million dollars resets the guard market for offensive guards But he's the best guard the person he is the way he operates the way he competes on a daily basis Obviously, he's got a lot of physical talent and he's an amazing person And he's the type of guy that we want to build around the start of this free agency period came more in the middle of The defense and from the linebacker position two guys and on Yamada and Ellis that obviously Terry fontano And Ryan Nielsen know quite well from their days in New Orleans. Just the way they play football We talk about versatility. We talk about toughness and we talk about violence and competitiveness They really fit those characteristics. David on Yamada comes over from the Saints defensive tackle Grady gets some help up front and a guy that's really gave us issues over the last few years Runs into his own blocker and then is brought down by on Yamada It's a it's a great opportunity, you know for my old D-line coach who is now the D coordinator over here You know, we're really pumped to uh to get this thing going 23 sacks over his last six seasons Under pressure and he's going down this time. It's David on Yamada I play play my heart out expect great things wins on every down every down in distance Hayden Ellis a linebacker who had seven sacks last year I'm so excited. It's just such a blessing thankful and I'm ready to come and Put on show out here. He just goes out and balls steps up in the pocket and gets sacks Hayden Ellis second and 17 under pressure again and going down has a great year in a contract year Shows his athleticism shows his versatility passionate. I'm just ready to go I'm excited to see, you know, how they want to use me exactly and I'm excited to get to work We'll start with the Taylor-Heineke piece expected to sign with the Atlanta Fox And my family's rent from around here. I'm from around here full circle, you know, this is where it all started Felt a little football here grew up in swanney The Falcons have said they intend for Desmond Ritter to be their starting quarterback He's coming in to be the backup quarterback and but he's a guy that anytime he's gotten an opportunity to play He's gone on and he's done really well, you know Taylor coming in It's a guy that gives you a chance to win. He understands his role Yeah, I plan on just trying to be that veteran presence and I'm going to come in and help him in any way I can Help this team any way I can I've kind of been doing that the last two years in Washington Unfortunately those last two years that the start kind of went down and I go in there and play But hopefully Desmond can stay healthy and I can help him in any way he needs The other thing the Falcons have done today and this is the big splash is Jesse Bates Safety Probably the best free agent safety on the market, right? Yep coming over from Cincinnati. I'm all signed up ready to go Everything we talk about and we talk about it starts with the makeup And we want players that are not only going to be good at their position But they're going to make people around them better and he's done that through his career Jesse Bates brings a degree of credibility in the back end If I'm a safety or a foul quarterback, I know who Jesse Bates is second down Rivers off play action. That one's going to be intercepted picked off by Jesse Bates Very exciting to be here. I think that my role is going to be a leader We got a lot of talent a lot of young people And a lot of great people that care about winning so Like I said, I'm excited to be a part of this. You know someone that's going to be The same guy every day. Like I said, whether it's good or bad It's going to be the same Jesse Bates the third every single day Our goal going into free agency is we want to touch every level and add to every position We want to improve the total team. We're going to continue to dig and find football players. I saw a great opportunity You know for me to come in and Feel like I'm going to be a difference maker on this defense This is the place where I can win. This is the place where I can get coached at a high level and I can get better Um, but also a place that I'll enjoy. I think it's just going to be a great opportunity for me to go out there And play and make some big plays. I really feel like um, you know Just kind of surprised a lot of people this year This seems to be a you know very competitive tough team and won a lot of ball games This is a guy who went in there and says we can do it You know a lot of belief happening internally signing my name upstairs was amazing And I'm just excited for the opportunity and to be able to play with the guys and really See what we can do this season and I think we'll shop to There a car far corner in the end zone Matt Collins are you getting a really competitive corner? Um a guy who likes to You know get his hands on receivers And you know get in the ring game a little bit get my nose bloody energy Each and every day coming out there to work Um And just just work out there showing uh, how bad I wanted deep shot To the end zone for miller and it is come for a touchdown You know just being a veteran leader, you know going out there and giving everything I got Arthur Smith said he wanted a violent d-line, you know, and I could bring a lot of violence That's for sure The falcons doing a lot of A great work this offseason terry fontano had a long conversation with him At the shrine ball about how they are building that team piece by piece the next big piece The number eight overall pick in the draft. What's their strategy going into next month? What it helps when you do a lot of good things in free agency It just helps you to have more discipline and it helps to be really clear And whether you're moving around whether you're moving up or moving down Helps you to have discipline and say let's just continue to improve this team And knowing who they are if they're truly passionate about what they do They want to be the best football player they can be they want to be the best person they can be Regardless of where they are in their life. We believe we have a strong culture and a really good locker room And we want to make sure we add to that